The J100 Keychain Screwdrivers Research Project

[bmwrd0]

I think I have about six or so of them, Proto and P&C versions. When I get a chance I will get a pic for you, although one is on the wife's keychain so that might be a bit of a chore.

 

[SilverDeck]

I think I have about six or so of them, Proto and P&C versions. When I get a chance I will get a pic for you, although one is on the wife's keychain so that might be a bit of a chore.

Thanks. Close up shots of both sides of each piece would be great. I think I’ve got six different varieties identified so far on the P&C J100s. Will be looking forward to seeing which ones you have.


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[PacificaVette]

This is one I found at the bottom of an old toolbox I bought at a garage sale. I.A.M. Local 311 is in Los Angeles.

 

[SilverDeck]

This is one I found at the bottom of an old toolbox I bought at a garage sale. I.A.M. Local 311 is in Los Angeles.

Very cool. Thank you for sharing those pics!

 

[SilverDeck]

Anyone else have pics of these that they would be willing to share?

 

[Ricky Joe]

There is a Mooney Aircraft keychain screwdriver on eBay.

 

[Rileysan]

Yes! As promised, here's a photo of the 6 blank J100s I bought last year.

Cheers!

Brian

 

[SilverDeck]

Yes! As promised, here's a photo of the 6 blank J100s I bought last year.



Cheers!



Brian

Those are amazing, Brian. Thank you for posting!


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[SilverDeck]

There is a Mooney Aircraft keychain screwdriver on eBay.

I have been watching that one, but don't fully understand what makes the seller think it is so valuable? I don't know if Mooney Aircraft Inc. was a Proto Tool distributor or just a customer interested in having some J100s made with their name on the back, but either way the minimum order size for a J100s was 300 pieces and some orders were considerably more than that (several thousand pieces). So while this Mooney piece is interesting based on the back marking, I don't think it is worth anywhere close to what the seller is asking for it.

 

[Provincial]

Mooney Aircraft, Inc. was incorporated in June of 1948 and made light aircraft. It never gained financial strength, and went through a constant changing of ownership and management. The screwdriver would have been a give-away promotion item. Mooney did not distribute tools, nor was it a dealer for Proto.

 

[SilverDeck]

Mooney Aircraft, Inc. was incorporated in June of 1948 and made light aircraft. It never gained financial strength, and went through a constant changing of ownership and management. The screwdriver would have been a give-away promotion item. Mooney did not distribute tools, nor was it a dealer for Proto.

This is great information. Thank you!

 

[Provincial]

Upon further thought, Mooney engine cowlings were held on by one-quarter turn Camloc fasteners. I believe that the early ones had straight slots, and know for sure that the later airplanes used phillips head versions to keep the screwdriver from slipping out and damaging the paint.

A straight slot J100 would make sense to hand out for the early fasteners. I don't know when they made the change, but it should have been in the 1960's.

 

[SilverDeck]

Have appreciated all of the pics posted to this thread so far. Keep 'em coming!

 

[SilverDeck]

Upon further thought, Mooney engine cowlings were held on by one-quarter turn Camloc fasteners. I believe that the early ones had straight slots, and know for sure that the later airplanes used phillips head versions to keep the screwdriver from slipping out and damaging the paint.

A straight slot J100 would make sense to hand out for the early fasteners. I don't know when they made the change, but it should have been in the 1960's.

I meant to respond to this earlier, but I appreciate the additional information about Mooney and their engine cowlings. I suppose it is possible that Mooney ordered some J100s with their company information on the back so they could distribute them to purchasers of their engine cowlings, but I think it is more likely that Mooney ordered their J100s to distribute as promotional pieces.

From what I've been able to gather so far in my research efforts, J100s were produced for the following:

-Plomb/Proto/etc. employees, staff, and salesmen. Usually these had the individual's name stamped onto the back side of the J100 opposite the tool company logo. These folks were furnished with imprinted J100s at a specified rate (X number of J100s every so many months) to hand out to customers and contacts as a marketing piece (somewhat similar to a business card, except one you would be inclined to put on your keyring).

-Plomb/Proto/etc. tool distributors could order imprinted J100s in quanitity (minimum orders of several hundred pieces) with their company name/logo/etc. stamped on the back opposite the tool company logo.

-Consumers could also purchase J100s from Plomb/Proto/etc. distributors (they were a catalog item). I have also seen Plomb/Proto ads where you could request a tool catalog and send in a nominal amount of money (in cash or stamps) and they would send you a J100. J100s sent out this way would have have the tool company logo on one side and a blank back.

 

[Provincial]

Mooney would have purchased the J100's and given them to owners of Mooney airplanes for access to their cowlings and likely other access panels. Just the sort of advertising that Proto promoted.

Airplanes are inspected before flight, and have periodic inspections of greater detail on regular intervals. Having a device in your pocket to gain access is valuable. Handing these out as a promotion piece would be very logical.

 

[SilverDeck]

Mooney would have purchased the J100's and given them to owners of Mooney airplanes for access to their cowlings and likely other access panels. Just the sort of advertising that Proto promoted.

Airplanes are inspected before flight, and have periodic inspections of greater detail on regular intervals. Having a device in your pocket to gain access is valuable. Handing these out as a promotion piece would be very logical.

It is very possible that Mooney placed an order for marked J100s for the very reasons you suggest. We may never know for their intent. But one thing is for sure, and that is that it was great marketing to put your name on a quality tool that people would hang onto and carry around like a J100.


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[Private Lugnutz]

But one thing is for sure, and that is that it was great marketing to put your name on a quality tool that people would hang onto and carry around...

Do you know if Plomb's J100 was a FOAK? In other words, the first ever keyring screwdriver? I have a few Craftsman (the disk-shaped 4-ways...) from the 50s and some older generic examples from car dealerships. As a category, the J100 keychain drivers are not unique, but I'm wondering if they were the first.

Secondly, in a brief cursory attempt to quickly gather some context for that question, I ran into an article on the history of the J100 from 2014, written by a fellow aficionado named Travis Raynes, published on a pretty splashy advertising-supported blog site called "Tools In Action." You two are clearly kindred spirits. Check it out here.

 

[SilverDeck]

Do you know if Plomb's J100 was a FOAK? In other words, the first ever keyring screwdriver? I have a few Craftsman (the disk-shaped 4-ways...) from the 50s and some older generic examples from car dealerships. As a category, the J100 keychain drivers are not unique, but I'm wondering if they were the first.

Secondly, in a brief cursory attempt to quickly gather some context for that question, I ran into an article on the history of the J100 from 2014, written by a fellow aficionado named Travis Raynes, published on a pretty splashy advertising-supported blog site called "Tools In Action." You two are clearly kindred spirits. Check it out here.

Thanks Lugz.

Very good question about if Plomb was the first. I have seen some early Stanley keyrings but can’t say with any certainty that they predate the earliest 1920s Plomb J100s.

Travis Raynes' (Conductor562) Tools in Action blog post about the J100s is what I credit with sparking my interest in researching them. However, I have identified MANY more Plomb/Proto varieties than his blog lists, and am looking forward to sharing all of that information here in the future once I wrap things up. Travis hasn’t been active here on GJ since last October but I hope he will be back again.


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[Private Lugnutz]

SilverDeck,

My apologies. I missed that your reference in post #1 to prior work was the same article. I didn't read it in depth, and wouldn't have the wherewithal to compare.

Funny you should mention Stanley. I have a marketing keychain screwdriver from the other Stanley (the door to door appliances company from the 20's).

I look forward to continuing to follow your progress.

 

[SilverDeck]

Funny you should mention Stanley. I have a marketing keychain screwdriver from the other Stanley (the door to door appliances company from the 20's).

Here is an example of the Stanley pieces that I have seen. "Sweetheart" logo and all. Just don't know exactly how old these pieces are To my eye the don't appear to pre-date the earliest Plomb J100s which seem to have been first released in the early years of the 1920s.

 

[SilverDeck]

Need help from some of you guys who are more adept than I am at using the trademark search function on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

I'm trying to put some of the Proto J100 types into a chronology based on the Proto logo that was being used. Attached are two Proto logos from J100s. The first one (with the PROTO name in the frame) was used after Ingersoll-Rand acquired the PROTO tool line from Pendleton Tool Company in 1964. I'm trying to determine just when this particular logo began to be used. 1964? Later?

And then I'm trying to deterimine if the Proto logo seen in the second image (the one without the frame around "PROTO" came before or after the "framed" version. Right now I'm leaning toward after. It possibly it may fall into the 1982-1984 time period. Proto was still using the "framed" logo on J100s issued for their 1982 75th Anniversary event, but use of this logo ceased in 1984 when Stanley purchased Proto and changed the J100 markings to "Stanley Proto Industrial Tools".

I know some of you guys are real wizards with trademark searches, so if you can help me sort out this chronology, it would be greatly apprecaited. So far my attempts to solve this have come up empty-handed.

EDIT: Still striking out on any trademark information pertaining to these two types of markings, but I think I have this issue sorted out now. A a search of marked J100s issued for datable events would seem indicate that the "framed logo" J100s (first image, and issued ca. 1970-1981) came BEFORE the J100s with logo in the second image (ca. 1983). The purchase of Ingersoll-Rand (and Proto) by Stanley Works in 1984 ushered in several more J100 types but these were marked "Stanley Proto Industrial Tools".

 

[live2crochet]

I have never seen these. I am going to keep my eyes out for them now. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Username already in use]

Nothing revolutionary here, I'm sure, but I finally dug these out for you.

 

[SilverDeck]

Nothing revolutionary here, I'm sure, but I finally dug these out for you.

Thanks, Username!

You probably noticed this already, but the two Protos are from the early to mid 1960s time period when the registered trademark symbol started to appear on these. Dated pieces without the trademark symbol exist up through 1963, and then the ones with the trademark symbol (and there are several varieites of those) fall in to the 1964-1970 time frame.

Any stampings on the back side of any of those pieces?

 

[Username already in use]

Any stampings on the back side of any of those pieces?

Yep.

 

[SilverDeck]

Yep.

Awesome. Thank you!

I'm still not quite sure what to do with the "embossed logo" P&C keychain drivers like the one on the right in your images. They have a distinctively different shape than the traditional J100s ("pear-head" style). But I know that P&C was still making them into the early 1970s from talking with the former P&C plant manager. Interestingly, they never made it into the P&C catalogs (as far as I can tell) and may have only been a non-catalog promotional item. I have seen examples with names stamped on the back, leading me to believe that they served as promotional give-away items for P&C salesmen and distributors (just like the J100s). So they seem to be a little bit of a "red-headed stepchild" off-shoot of the J100 story.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

They have a distinctively different shape than the traditional J100s ("pear-head" style).

I'm sure you realize, but just in case not, that's the shape of the entire P&C logo. It can be seen on tools, in catalogs, and cool sewn-on patches that GJ member tin medic scored not too long ago. Having said all that, I can see why you'd exclude them. They really only conform in purpose, not shape or construction, with the, er, "in-house" examples.

 

[SilverDeck]

I'm sure you realize, but just in case not, that's the shape of the entire P&C logo. It can be seen on tools, in catalogs, and cool sewn-on patches that GJ member tin medic scored not too long ago. Having said all that, I can see why you'd exclude them. They really only conform in purpose, not shape or construction, with the, er, "in-house" examples.

Thanks. The interesting thing is that the P&C logo keychain screwdrivers and "pear-head" J100s (stamped with the P&C logo), were being made at the same time in the same factory (Milwaukie, OR) in the 1960s and 1970s. See attached images.

I would definitely consider them to both be keychain screwdrivers, and both were clearly used for promotional purposes as well as being fully-functional tools, but I'm just not covinced that the P&C logo-shaped screwdrivers should be classified as J100s.

 

[SilverDeck]

Just wanted to give this thread another bump to keep it from gettting buried too deeply here in the "Vintage Tool Discussion". I am still feverishly gathering J100 information and images, and greatly appreciate all those who have already posted pics of their J100s here. I invite everyone who has J100s to post pics of them here. You never know if you might happen to own a previously-unseen type. New types are still turning up - I just found a "new" (and apparently very obscure) Proto type two weeks ago, and a new Ingersoll-Rand type just surfaced as well. I think I have most of the major type identified now, but want to make this project as complete as possible when the information is released here. And I need your help to do that. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ricky Joe]

I just ran across mine today. It is the Proto Los Angeles USA model.

 

[SilverDeck]

I just ran across mine today. It is the Proto Los Angeles USA model.

Let’s see it!

There are no less than five different types that say “Proto Los Angeles USA”. All were made prior to 1957.


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[Ricky Joe]

It is the same as the one in post #43. I have never gotten the hang of picture posting.

 

[Zrxrunner]

My only contribution is weird story. Never even heard of these things til i saw your post. Next workday, i go in to find one on my desk. Helped our shop tech with his dads estate tools, and he came across this and thought id appreciate it...he's right! Looks like you already have a few examples, but thought the timing was worth the post anyways!

 

[SilverDeck]

My only contribution is weird story. Never even heard of these things til i saw your post. Next workday, i go in to find one on my desk. Helped our shop tech with his dads estate tools, and he came across this and thought id appreciate it...he's right! Looks like you already have a few examples, but thought the timing was worth the post anyways!

That is awesome! And a great story to go with it. With the markings with the trademark symbol, that piece was made in the late 1960s (probably 1967ish, shortly before the Professional Proto style markings appeared around 1970. Thank you for sharing!


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[3baygarage]

Found a Challenger today. It’s dated too.

 

[SilverDeck]

Awesome! Thank you, 3bay!

 

[3baygarage]

No problem. Pulled from the shadows, only to take a picture of it...in the shadows!

 

[SilverDeck]

Re: The J100 Keychain Screwdriver Research Project

I wanted to thank everyone again for the J100 photos they have posted to this thread so far. Every pic is a tremendous help as I continue to gather more information and images in the different J100 varieties.

New varieties are continuing to turn up and are coming added to the list. My plan is still to publish the information here, on a new thread that is dedicated to J100 types across all makers (Plomb, Proto, Proto Prefessional, Stanley Proto, Proto Canada, P & C, Millers Falls, as well as some unfinished and blank pieces. Each type will be identified, described, and illustrated with images. With new varieties still continuing to surface, I am hesitant to publish too soon. But things are definitely slowing down in terms of unseen varieties turning up, so I think we are getting close.

Keep posting pics here of what you have and eventually a new thread will appear on GJ that will be a comprehensive summary of J100 types and production. I am very grateful for all of your assistance with this effort!


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[RTM]

Here's an image seen in a FB for sale ad. Back side says "R.Timmings"

 

[SilverDeck]

Here's an image seen in a FB for sale ad. Back side says "R.Timmings"

Very nice! Proto Canada piece produced sometime between about 1970 and 1982. Thank you for sharing the pic.


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